A Kiss Is Just a Kiss
by kehwie
Summary: Vala is hurt when Daniel won't kiss her beneath the mistletoe...especially when she sees him kissing someone else.


_A/N 1: For those of you reading_ Finding Home _, I have neither forgotten nor abandoned it. I am tweaking the last chapter and hope to have it done soon._

 _A/N 2: Back in 2011 or 2012, when I was reading pretty much every fanfic ever written, I found a lovely story_ called Mistletoe Woes _by an author named lifeistoobrevis on Livejournal. I don't remember details, but I remember the premise being that Daniel wouldn't kiss Vala under the mistletoe. He was willing to kiss a nurse though, because it "didn't mean anything."_

 _That story and indeed the author's entire LJ account has since been deleted and purged. I wanted to reread it, because I remember liking it, but it's gone.  
_

 _This is not an attempt to recreate that story-merely my take on that idea. However, if the author of the original happens to stumble across this and declares it too similar to his/her work, I will of course take this down._

 _For now, I hope someone enjoys this little bit of holiday fluff._

 **A Kiss Is Just a Kiss**

Vala _loved_ Christmas. She didn't care much about the religious aspect, but from what she'd gathered that wasn't particularly unusual. But she adored the _sparkle_. Twinkling lights and brightly colored ribbons and fragrant greenery were strung all about the SGC. For once, the place didn't look so drab and boring.

She also got a kick out of the delightfully cheesy holiday movies her friends introduced her to. And speaking of friends...people were actually getting her _presents!_ Gifts from Cameron and Samantha were already in her quarters, waiting to be opened on Christmas Day. Teal'c had promised to bring her some trinket from off-world. Even a couple of SFs mentioned their intentions to buy her something. It was all so exciting.

Daniel had been remarkably tight-lipped about the holidays and even grouchier than normal. He didn't actually go around saying "Humbug!" or anything, but he still reminded her of the old man in that movie with puppets she'd watched. In all fairness, he probably _did_ have more than his share of ghosts from years gone by. If only he were willing, Vala would happily make his future cheery and bright. But he wasn't, and she'd made her peace with that. Mostly.

They were friends though, good friends, so surely he'd give her a present. She'd spent ages tracking down something for him.

Presents and decorations and sappy movies aside, Vala's favorite part of Christmas was the mistletoe. Someone at the base (it wasn't her! Honest!) had hung mistletoe _everywhere_. Vala was having a delightful time of it. Daniel seemed to go out of his way to avoid the stuff, but sooner or later she was sure she could catch him under a sprig.

It finally happened the morning of the 21st. Bill Lee had asked for their input on a new device he'd acquired, and they reached the open door to his office at the same time. Having been caught in that same doorway by Bill more than once already, Vala knew the mistletoe was there. Daniel, who didn't interact with Bill quite as often, did not.

"Oh, darling, look!" Vala grabbed his arm, beaming as she pointed above their heads. "Now you know the rules; you have to kiss me now." She could hardly wait.

Daniel scowled and jerked his arm away. "No. I don't. It's a stupid game, Vala. And I don't play games like that." He stalked into Bill's lab.

Vala stood alone in the corrider, too stunned to move. She remained frozen there long enough that an airman came by, saw his opportunity, and kissed her. It was a perfectly nice kiss.

But he wasn't Daniel.

###

As hurt and offended as she was, Vala probably would have written the whole thing off as Daniel's usual grumpiness and moved on if it hadn't been for the incident that occurred two days later.

Stomach rumbling, she was heading into the commissary for lunch when she saw something that stopped her in tracks and made her lose her appetite completely.

Daniel was already there, filling a mug with coffee. And he just happened to get caught under the mistletoe with a petite blond woman; Vala thought she might be a botanist. The blonde pointed to the mistletoe, and Daniel laughed—laughed!—and leaned forward to kiss her.

Vala thought she might be able to _feel_ her heart shattering in her chest. It wasn't mistletoe Daniel objected to—it was _her_.

Once again, she remained frozen in place a little too long. Daniel looked up and saw her. Something must have shown on her face, because his eyes widened and he set his coffee down and started toward her.

Oh, no. No, no, no. She would not, she could not, talk with him now. So what if Daniel found her repulsive to the point he couldn't even give her a token kiss? She'd deal with it. But not right now. He for damn sure was going to give her some _time_ to deal with it.

Vala took off. A dead run might arouse too much suspicion among the other base employees, but she was still capable of moving pretty fast without it.

Not fast enough—she could hear Daniel's hurried steps behind her. Vala made a couple of sharp, unexpected turns and picked up her pace. Honestly, why couldn't the man just leave her alone? She didn't _need_ to hear his explanation, his regretful apology that he just didn't find her attractive…

Taking a long, circuitous route, she made it to the elevator. Was she far enough ahead of him to risk it? Glancing quickly over her shoulder and not seeing anyone, Vala jabbed the elevator button and prayed.

Thankfully, the doors slid open immediately. She dashed inside and turned to see Daniel break into a sprint. _No._ She hit the button to close the doors and sent the elevator up.

She reached the surface level, but now there was the little matter of getting past the guards. Officially checking out would give Daniel time to catch up with her. Incapacitating the guards would take no time at all, but it might cause trouble later. As much as she wanted away from Daniel right now, it wasn't worth risking her position on SG-1.

So she waited, slinking into a shadowy corner. Moments later, Daniel arrived, asking the guards if she'd come this way. After arguing in frustration with them for a few minutes, Daniel finally gave up and retreated back to the elevator. Vala waited another couple of minutes, then emerged from her hiding place and went to check out.

One of the guards, Dustin, was a friend of hers. His eyes widened when he saw her. "Vala! Dr. Jackson was just here looking for you."

"Yes, I know." Her words sounded clipped even to her own ears. "But I have no desire to be found by him right now."

Dustin nodded. "Understood. He won't hear anything from me." He checked her out and wished her happy holidays.

Vala headed outside and realized she hadn't really thought this through. She was away from Daniel, yes, but she had nowhere to go. And she'd been planning to eat lunch, not leave base—she didn't even have a jacket. Shivering in the December chill, she wandered over to a grassy area that NORAD sometimes used for employee picnics.

Twenty minutes later, Vala had had enough of the cold. Daniel had probably given up by now, but even if he hadn't it should be fairly easy to avoid him. She headed back inside.

Vala remained in her quarters the rest of the day, not even venturing out to eat dinner. She wasn't hungry anymore anyway.

But the next day was Christmas Eve. All kinds of festivities had been planned for those still on base. Vala didn't want to see Daniel yet, but no way would she miss all the fun.

Besides, odds were good Mr. Scrooge would work through it all.

So Vala headed to the commissary bright and early on the 24th. This time it was blessedly lacking a certain archaeologist. She sat with Walter and Siler and had a delightful time chatting with them.

Until Daniel showed up.

And Walter and Siler scampered away like rats.

Whatever. Vala lifted her chin. She could do this. She could pretend she cared just as little as Daniel did. She flashed him a big toothy grin as he plunked himself in front of her. "Good morning, darling. Merry Christmas."

Daniel was not so easily deterred. "We need to talk about yesterday."

Vala raised her eyebrows. "What about yesterday?"

"Cut the crap, Vala. You know perfectly well what about."

"All right, fine, I do. But I see no reason whatsoever why we should discuss it."

"I hurt your feelings. You deserve an explanation and an apology."

After all the times he'd hurt her feelings in the past, why in the worlds did he feel the need to start explaining and apologizing _now_? "Don't worry about it, Daniel. It's fine."

"It's really not. Look, that kiss with Anna—it didn't mean anything."

"Of course it didn't. That's kind of the whole point of mistletoe. Just harmless fun."

Daniel frowned. "Then why…?"

Could the man _be_ any more dense? "It's nothing, Daniel. I told you not to worry."

"No, talk to me. It obviously bothered you, and I'd like to know why."

Vala rolled her eyes. "For the love of Ba'al, Daniel, you are _not_ this stupid."

"Apparently I am," Daniel said testily." Enlighten me please."

"Fine. You kissed her. Willingly. No arguing. No grumbling. No hesitation. You even seemed to enjoy it."

"I just told you it meant nothing!"

"If it didn't mean anything, why couldn't you have kissed _me_? Do you honestly find me _that_ repulsive?"

"Repulsive? I don't find you repulsive at all! That's the problem!"

She frowned. "What, you _want_ to find me repulsive?"

"Well, no, not really." Daniel calmed down a bit. "Although it might be less complicated," he muttered under his breath. Aloud he said, "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I really didn't mean to hurt you. But I told you I wouldn't play those kinds of games."

"And I believed you! Right up to the moment I saw you kiss _her_."

"Because it didn't mean anything!"

"It didn't have to mean anything with me! Daniel, I wasn't trying to force you to date me or marry me or anything. I just wanted to kiss you."

Daniel narrowed his eyes, of course pinpointing the one thing she shouldn't have said. "It didn't _have_ to mean anything? But it could have? If we'd both wanted it to?"

Vala could feel the blood drain from her face. "Ah, no, I didn't mean-"

"Oh, Vala." Daniel's tone was gentle now, his voice warm and affectionate. "Don't you get it? I could kiss Anna because it meant nothing to me. _She_ means nothing to me. I could _never_ kiss you like that. I can't make it be a game. Because it isn't. If I kiss you, I'll mean it."

The world tilted crazily. "Do you...want to do that? Kiss me and mean it?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

Daniel looked at her, his expression intense. "On what _you_ want. I'm not kidding, Vala—I won't play games. If you aren't serious, I don't want any part of this. We stay as we are—friends and coworkers and teammates."

"And if I am serious?"

His face softened. "Then so am I."

"In that case," Vala said, "there's a serious _lack_ of mistletoe in your office. And in my quarters. Why don't we head to one of those places and discuss the matter further?"

In the end, they missed all the festivities for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But neither of them cared all that much. It was indeed a very merry Christmas.

END

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!


End file.
